bicycle bucket tutorial

06.03.2010

Just want to say thank you to Vanessa from V & Co. and all her wonderful readers! Thanks for letting me be your guest today.

Ready for a fun summertime project?

My husband and I were doing some tune ups on my daughter’s bike earlier this spring – you know, new tires, paint the handlebars, fix the seat, fun stuff. So, when we were out tire shopping I saw the cute bike baskets at the store. I was like “oh, we have to get her a basket, it would be so fun” and he’s like “you should just make one”. So here we go!

Materials:

2 fat quarters (18″x22″) of coordinating prints

21.5″ wide by 4.5″ tall piece for binding top of bucket

stiff double side fusible interfacing (I used Peltex 72F which I found at Walmart)

one piece from the pattern (it’s the bottom of the bucket – use the solid line). Cut the same size pieces from the lining fabric.

For the tab that attaches the bucket to the bike handle bars cut a 6″ wide by 11.5″ tall piece from the lining material and cut one piece 21.5″ wide by 4.5″ tall for the top binding of the bucket.

From the double sided fusible interfacing cut one piece 7.5″ wide by 6″ tall, one piece 11″ long by 6″ tall and one piece from the pattern following the dotted line.

{All seam allowances 1/2″ unless otherwise noted}

Sew the exterior and lining:

Place the short rectangle (8.5″ wide by 7″ tall piece) RIGHT sides facing to the bottom bucket piece. Sew.

Open up the piece you just sewed and take the long remaining rectangle, find the center (should be at 6″) and pin it to the center of the curved bottom bucket piece.

Starting from the pin sew following the curve of the bottom bucket piece, adjusting as you go.

When you reach the seam that joins the bottom bucket piece and the short rectangle, stop with the needle down and lift presser foot, rotate the pieces so that the two rectangles are facing RIGHT sides together. Put presser foot back down and continue sewing. Go back to where you started in the middle of the curve and sew the remaining side. {When lifting the presser foot and rotating the pieces so that they align, it might feel and look kind of wrong or weird, but I promise they’ll line up and look great when you turn it right side out.}

Clip curve. Turn RIGHT side out. Repeat same process for lining pieces.

Assemble the bucket:

Take the double sided fusible interfacing pieces and place them into the exterior of the bucket.

Then place the lining into the bucket.

Press on all sides (exterior and lining and bottom) of the bucket to fuse in place. Set aside.

Make the handle bar attachment:

Take the 11.5″ tall by 6″ wide piece and fuse on a piece of medium weight interfacing.

Fold in half lengthwise RIGHT sides together. Sew along all open sides leaving a 2″ opening in the bottom for turning. Clip corners, turn right side out.

Topstitch around entire piece.

Now take one side of the velcro, sew into place along one of the short edges.

Take the remaining piece of velcro and sew into place on the other end and opposite side you just sewed the first piece of velcro on (as pictured above).

**Now here is where you could do it differently, I sewed this handle bar attachment onto the bucket on this next step, but you could also hold off and sew it on as the very last step, your choice.

Sew attachment to bucket:

Pin the handle bar attachment to the bucket about 2-3″ from the top. Sew two straight lines completely across the attachment piece about 3/4″ apart.

Finishing with the binding:

Now take the binding strip and press it in half lengthwise, open, and press raw edges to the center. If you’ve ever done quilt binding, we’re going to finish this the same way.

Unfold the binding strip, pin in place aligning raw edges at the back (center) of the bucket. Start sewing along the crease towards the edge of the bucket (where red arrow is pointing) and continue around to the other edge.

It should look like this now:

Trim the binding piece so that they overlap by 1/2″ (see tiny red arrows above).

Now grab the bucket and give it a squish and place the binding ‘tails’ RIGHT sides together. Sew using a 1/4″ seam allowance.

Now un-squish the bucket and sew the remaining part of the binding closed, again along the crease.

Flip the binding over the top and in towards the lining. Topstitch along exterior close to the seam. Press!!!

That’s it, one complete bicycle bucket ready for a trip to the park. Have fun!

139 Responses to bicycle bucket tutorial

This is so fresh – I’m about to make some for my kids who will FREAK out over the coolness!!! They have wanted baskets for a while and I am so CHEAP I haven’t bought any. Good b-day gift idea, too. Off to get velcro!

You’re awesome!! This is next on my to-do list for my daughter’s Strider! Everytime she rides I wind up with handfuls of odds and ends from outside (gum tree balls, pinecones, etc) or else she ends up riding one handed (yikes!!) while trying to hold something! I had been putting it off though because I didn’t want to try to figure out a pattern – now I don’t have to!! Thanks so much!

I’m thinking laminated fabric or fuse-on vinyl might be just the ticket for this project — we’re in the Great Lakes region and it rains plenty during the summer around here. I can just imagine the basket being “forgotten” outside a time or two. *grin*

What a great idea! We have lots of bikes that would love a little handle-bar basket. My son having a bike rodeo themed party, and I just may have to make some. I love all your ideas, in fact I just made a zaaka inspired pouch for a birthday gift this week. And all those great kitchen ideas are on my long, long to-do list. Thanks for taking the time to do a tutorial for this.

very cute. too bad my kids won’t get near a bike. i know, i know they are crazy. but we live in the country and people drive on the roads like maniacs. they are just afraid. i don’t blame, not for sure i want them on the road.

Anna this is the bomb! I seriously need one for my bike, with my name and everything. Thanks again for taking the time to make these wonderful tuts. My BF’s daughter is turning 7 in a few weeks, this’ll make the perfect gift for her!

I think yours is better than the ones that you can buy at the store. He was right about making your own. My husband is like the same way, he would just tell me to make something instead of buying it. LOL! I love it!

You are so clever! This is an inspiration – and I’ll bet your little one loves it. It’s raining here on Cape Cod today, and your post makes me think that the perfect way to spend Saturday is up in the sewing room….xxxs and ooos from Cape CodJude atdolcecapecod.dotblogspot.com

What perfect timing! We’re about to get Hazel a larger bike and I was half-way through saying to my husband “and we need to get a better bicycle pump and bell and maybe a…oh wait, I saw a tutorial for one yesterday so never mind!” Of course, Mat’d tell me to buy it instead of making it because he knows what my ‘to do list’ is like!

Lovely tutorial. I actually made it for me (a grownup) I made a few tweaks to carry my necessities (cell phone, camera, key hook and wallet) I hope you like it: http://sewcraftdecor.tumblr.com/

By the way, what machine do you use? I started with a brother and I make bags and other constructed items, but sometimes I have trouble when a lot of layers overlap. My presser foot won’t be steady enough of the needle won’t go trough smoothly (i had to glue the trim on the bucket for example). Any tips?

Hello, I have a blog that aims to identify all the tutorials that can be found on blogs. I put a link to your blog (and not the explanation) but I let you put your pictures? thank you and congratulations for your blog marjorie http://tutoriels-loisirs-creatifs.over-blog.com

Does anyone know whatt the size of the bottom is supposed to be? I thought it was a semi-circle, but now I suspect not. I tried to use the template, but can’t seem to get it to print out so that the 1″ sample square is true. I have all of the other pieces cut out. I am assuming the long side of the basket is 8 1/2″ because it matches up with the other piece, but I need to know the distance between the bottom and the tallest part of the curve, if that makes sense. If it were a true circle, I could easily figure it out, of course, but I don’t think it is.

I am going to be linking to this on Bugcreator.blogspot.com on wednesday… due to an impromptu trip out of town and coming across this awesome tut today I used you a little 😉 in a good way though! Check it out wednesday as it is a scheduled post! Thanks for the awesome tut!

Thank you sooo much for this tutorial! I have to use a walker in the house and a wheelchair when I go out. I have been looking for something to use on both and this is perfect! Thank you again! You have made my life much easier! Now I can put stuff in this without having my husband get my stuff for me when I go my sewing maching. *hugs* Lisa W.

I made 2 of these last summer. First one I had a little problem following instructions for the bottom, and caught on for the second one. My 3 year old grandson just loved the one I gave him for his bike and the first one I kept and keep odds and ends in it. Thanks for posting this!

Great project! I just wanted to let you know that we featured this project on our Facebook page with more than 12,000 fans. We’d love it if you’d use our Featured Blogger button, available at: http://www.dailycraft.com/thank-you-for-crafting/. Our audience loved the project and we look forward to sharing more from you. Please let us know if you have any questions or projects you’d love us to feature! Thanks!

I run Fun Family Crafts, a library of craft tutorials geared at kids of all ages. I would love it if you’d stop by and submit this to be featured! (I link to you, I don’t post your tutorial on the site) Feel free to submit as many kid friendly craft tutorials as you like! http://funfamilycrafts.com/

Thank you so much for the tutorial! I made two of these today … one for my daughter and one for my son. I’ll link back to it on my blog and share the tutorial on facebook. It took me about 1 1/2 hours to make the first one and went much faster on the second. Love it!!

Thank you for the detailed tutorial! I was able to make a basket tonight. It will be for my dd’s 7th bday next week. What fun she’ll have being able to gather all the treasures she finds on her bike rides!

I have made these for my girls and they love them, I have requests to make more for friends, but the interfacing is alluding me. I have never sewn with fusible interfacing before, and now I curse it! How do you get your iron in that tiny bike bucket and get it all smooth? Do you have any tips for sewing with interfacing? Thanks so much.plan.e.creates@gmail.com

I just iron in the lining as far as I could. My iron is on the smaller size, so that helped a little. As far as sewing the fusible interfacing, I recommend following the manufacturers’s instruction exactly. Hope that helps.

If you have other kid friendly crafts, we’d love it if you would submit them. If you would like to display a featured button on your site, you can grab one from the right side bar of your post above. Thanks for a wonderful project idea!

Sure! You could try using oilcloth or laminated cotton. Otherwise a good option would be to use scotch guard fabric protector. I know ours has faded since I made it, but I try to take it off and bring it inside when we’re not out riding!

I made one for my Grandson aged 5. I got him to pick out the fabric from my stash. He thinks it is great for his toy cars on the front of his bike and when it is not on his bike he loves wearing it as a hat.

I just found this, I have a scooter and I’m in need of a bucket to put my purse in when I ride because mine holds my oxygen machine. Thank you this is so cute and much better than paying $125.00 for one from the medical supply store.

Lucky you your husband said no to buying it and to make it yourself! My husband doesn’t understand my love for sewing. We are on set number 3 (or is four)? of those cheap baskets!! Too bad for him, I am making them from now on! I think I will make one for me too!

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I haven’t. I don’t think it would work well in place of the Pellon (which is a double sided interfacing – not a fusible web) just because of the overall construction. You could certainly try it however you’d like though.

I finished one today, trying the crafter’s canvas. So now one of my daughters has one with the interfacing and my other daughter has one with crafter’s canvas. The crafter’s canvass definitely required different construction, and a bit of hand sewing to finish everything off, but, in the end it did work. Thanks for the great pattern!